The last few years, we've seen a number of record-setting high-beat movements, and here Chopard has given us another fast first. The L.U.C 8HF houses an experimental movement beating at 8Hz (57,600 bph), the first high-frequency escapement to receive the COSC chronometer certification. Here is a hands-on look at this history-making watch.

Inside the 8HF is a new movement for Chopard, the L.U.C 01.06-L. Though this is the first movement to receive the 8Hz COSC-certified escapement, it likely won't be the last. Instead of developing the escapement solely for one movement, Chopard has smartly created a system that can be adapted to work with almost any of their L.U.C movements. So rather than pushing forward with only one particular watch, Chopard has chosen to develop technology they can apply more broadly in years to come.

Matte Titanium Monoblock Caseback

There are a few reasons to increase the bph rate of a movement. The first, and the one that gets the most attention, is to enable a chronograph to measure finer units of time. If you want to measure down to 1/10th of a second accurately, you need a movement that beats 10 times per second. But here, it's a different concern being addressed: accuracy. The more beats a balance makes, the more resistant the entire escapement is to inaccuracy. A small bump or shock will have little to no effect on a high-beat movement, whereas a lower beat movement is more susceptible to variations in these circumstances.

Sturdy But Comfortable Case Design

But ratcheting up the beat rate is no easy task. Increased power use and decreased component durability can be difficult problems to solve. For the 8HF, Chopard has managed to maintain a 60 hour power reserve with a single barrel. Some escapement components, including the escape wheel, lever, and impulse-pin, have been made of silicon and Chopard has even developed a new way to fix these silicon parts to the steel components.

Seconds and Date

For such a technically innovative watch, the 8HF is relatively classic in styling. The 42mm titanium case has a matte finished monoblock back that incorporates the lugs and hugs the wrist nicely. There is also a small magnifying window on the caseback, making it possible to watch the high-frequency escapement in action. You can also get a sense of just how fast this movement is by watching the red seconds hand move smoothly around the sub-seconds dial. There is also a date window to the right of the seconds register.

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Friday March 3, 2012

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